Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Did You Know? This Week In History - The First Inaugral Address

Did you know? Between January and April of 1789 congress officially put in effect the constitution of the United States and unanimously elected Washington to become the our first president. Since I am in management I can, on a very small scale, relate to the undertaking, fear and excitement of these forefathers of our country. Could you imagine the strategy and the organizational skills it would take to first establish this as a country, write a policy and procedure manual from scratch for a nation and then find that one person that would be able to unite this large team of line staff (the citizens of the United States?) It is a challenge to motivate and unite 85 people towards a common goal and new project, none the less a nation of about 3 million.

General Washington

When I put it into a perspective like that I have to always give our presidents many kudos and much respect. I know the day to day challenges that face me and how frustrating it is to have a vision of how well something will work to only face a mass of people that have less enthusiasm or even if they want to achieve the same goal, they may all have different ideas on how to achieve that goal. April 1789 then newly elected President George Washington packed up his Virginia home, borrowed some money (imagine today's president saying "I will be there as soon as I get the loan to move"?), and moved to New York. On April 30 1789, George Washington gave his official Inaugural Address just to congress, again a vastly different process than what our modern nation is accustom to seeing. They sealed the deal with 13 skyrockets and blasts from 13 canyons and our nation was off and running.

As trying and dysfunctional as our country can be; when you take a step back and look at it from a 30,000 foot view over the last few hundred years it is awesome. It brings a definite sense of patriotism and respect that often gets shoved aside as I am dealing with the daily trials of the day. This country was started with just an idea of what would bring happiness and a better quality of life to its citizens. Because we had men of action such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, I, an average everyday citizen, can sit here today and blog on the Internet freely and without fear. I am able to reach thousands and the potentially millions (technologically speaking) with this simple message of awe for the foundation of our country.

So as I start my day in the United States, my country, I want to give thanks to all of the presidents, political staff, and people who have the daunting job of leading over 300 million people towards common goals and visions. I also want to thank our military men and women who took the 30,000 foot view and said "Yes, this is worth fighting for." I may not always understand or even agree with the political stance of our nation but I to must say that "Yes, this is worth fighting for" "...one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.."